Calum Chambers is the latest Arsenal player to put pen to paper this summer and extend his stay at the club.

The defender has signed a new ‘long-term deal’ at the Emirates which is believed to be for a period of four years, following on from the extensions handed to Granit Xhaka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Rob Holding.

Chambers, who finished last season strongly, has been with Arsenal for four years now having arrived from Southampton for £16 million in 2014.

After a bright start to life in north London, Chambers lost his way somewhat - with many pointing to the tough afternoon he was given by Jefferson Montero during a 2-1 defeat at Swansea in 2014 as the day things started to go downhill.

There is no doubt that his confidence took a hit on that soaking wet afternoon in south Wales, but as we saw last season - certainly during the latter stages of the campaign, Chambers is a defender who possesses an awful lot of potential.

And at 23, he is still very young for a top level centre back in the Premier League so there should be lots more to come from the defender, who already has three caps for England.

“I’m delighted Calum has extended his stay with us,” said Arsenal’s head coach Unai Emery. “He played an important role last season and will be part of my plans this season.”

That comment from Emery makes it clear that there will be no loan for Chambers in 2018/19, he will be part of the first-team picture during the Spaniard’s first year in charge.

And the former Southampton man is the type of player who you would expect to really benefit from the change that took place at the Emirates earlier in the summer.

A justified criticism of Arsene Wenger is that young defenders did not progress enough during his time at the club, certainly during the Emirates era.

Chambers, along with Rob Holding, both showed enormous potential when they were first brought in - but their progression flatlined somewhat - the same could be said of Hector Bellerin following his sudden breakthrough into the first-team.

Read More

Many put that down to the lack of defensive work on the training ground, but that is something that will change drastically under Emery and his new coaching staff.

Arsenal’s players, who returned for pre-season training on Monday, are now going to be working in a very different way at London Colney - with huge amount of work being put into getting the most out of the potential that lies within the squad.

Chief executive Ivan Gazidis is a firm believer that the current squad possesses far more quality than it showed during the past two seasons and during the search for Wenger’s replacement he made it clear to potential candidates how important it was that the they needed to bring out the best in the club’s young talent.

Chambers was one of those players, along with the likes of Maitland-Niles and Konstantinos Mavropanos, and all three look set to have major roles in the squad going forward.

Nemanja Matic of Manchester United in action with Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal

The work on contracts that Arsenal have done this summer also shows a clear indication of how things have changed at the club following Wenger’s departure.

Should Wenger have remained in charge there is little doubt that Jack Wilshere would have stayed and signed a new deal.

But Emery made it clear to the midfielder that he would very much be on the fringe of things in north London should he remain at the Emirates, leading Wilshere to opt to move on after 17 years at the club.

There is no more room for sentiment at Arsenal, those days are gone - as the Wilshere outcome proved, as well as the decision not to offer Santi Cazorla the chance to prove his fitness.

The new contracts that have been handed out have primarily been to the club’s younger players, although the focus now will be on getting Aaron Ramsey to extend his stay.

Read More

The change we have seen at the club has been drastic in recent months - we are now seeing an Arsenal that appears to be more decisive in the way it operates.

Unlike previous years, transfers have been done early. Bernd Leno, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Sokratis have all come in before July 2 and a deal for Lucas Torreira has been all but finalised - with the midfielder expected to undergo his medical and sign his deal once Uruguay’s participation at the World Cup has come to an end.

Areas that needed strengthening have been identified early and players have been brought in. The business so far has been a breath of fresh air.

It means the first-team squad should be in a good shape for the start of the Premier League season - with the new additions who haven’t been in Russia given plenty of time to adjust to their new surroundings.

Unai Emery (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal’s record during the early weeks of the season recently has been poor - with many putting that down to the squad being under-prepared going into the new campaign.

The debacle of 2011 immediately comes to mind, which came to a head in such stark and embarrassing fashion at Old Trafford. But there have been plenty of other examples of Arsenal looking slow and laboured in the way they have done their business during the off-season.

That is not something that can be levelled at them this summer, however, with work on deals - both internal and external - being done swiftly and decisively so far. It’s a new era in north London and the early signs are certainly positive.